Scott Shiller, president and CEO of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, has resigned, citing a difference in vision for the future.
Chairman Daniel Ritchie will reassume the role.
Shiller joined DCPA about a year ago, leaving Miami’s Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, becoming the second CEO in DCPA’s history, succeeding local philanthropist Ritchie, who has been board chairman for nine years.
Shiller offered a letter of resignation, effective May 31, to Ritchie on Friday.
“While I have enjoyed my time in Denver and am proud of what our team has accomplished this season, I can no longer serve the organization due to significant divergence in my vision for the company and that of the leadership of the DCPA Board of Trustees,” Shiller said in the letter.
Shiller said he’s proud of the financial, operational and program achievements he orchestrated in his term.
The outgoing CEO pointed to record-setting $37 million in ticket sales for its “Broadway line programming,” which was $4 million over the DCPA’s budget goal. The Broadway series also filled seats, Shiller said in the letter, to 82.6 percent of capacity, DCPA’s highest-ever number and a “significant increase” over last year.
Shiller, in the letter to Ritchie, did not go into details on the visionary differences which lead to his departure. In an e-mail to The Denver Post, he said he would let the letter “speak for itself.”
“The Denver Center takes great pride in the substantial progress the organization has made under Scott’s leadership,” Ritchie said in a news release. “He has led an exemplary team of theatre professionals during his time at the DCPA and we will work to expand his vision to reach into the community to reflect the growing diversity of the Denver metro area.”
DCPA credited Shiller, in his short Denver stint, with establishing the “Fund for Innovation that provides resources to expand the scope of theatre to ensure that it remains relevant and reflective of new audiences,” according to the release.
Shiller also helped to expand DCPA’s role in education, becoming a co-presenter of the Denver Public Schools Shakespeare Festival, and he was instrumental in developing programming to draw Denver millennials to the theater.
“I am pleased to have led the organization to a series of programmatic, financial and operational achievements over the last 12 months,” Shiller said.
Ritchie’s repeat performance as CEO will be temporary, as he works with the DCPA board and executive staffers in the search for a new chief.
In February, Denver officials announced an ambitious public-private partnership to transform the downtown Denver Performing Arts Complex from a nighttime cultural destination to an urban hub where Denverites will live, work and play.
The arts complex redesign, which will offer 50 percent more parking on the 12-acre site than the current center, does not yet have a price tag.